


Apple Cider, Skulls, and Jason Masks

by fangirlingtodeath513, GhoulsnHalos (Morgawse)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Halloween, M/M, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:27:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27304120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirlingtodeath513/pseuds/fangirlingtodeath513, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morgawse/pseuds/GhoulsnHalos
Summary: What happens when Cas persuades Dean to decorate Bobby's old house for the Sioux Falls Halloween Decorations competition.
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester
Kudos: 18
Collections: Promptus Exchangarama





	Apple Cider, Skulls, and Jason Masks

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! This was written for the Writers of Destiel Promptus Exchangarama Halloween Challenge. My prompt? Halloween Decorations. 
> 
> I haven't tagged Sam or a couple of OCs because, honestly, if you blink you'll miss them.
> 
> Thanks to my wonderful co-author fangirlingtodeath513 for picking the plot and taking it in an awesome direction I wouldn't have thought to go. I think that between us we created a great little fic!
> 
> Thanks also to my beta, CallenoftheNorth for helping to iron out the typos and errors. If any remain in the published work, they are mine alone — apologies.

Dean stumbled into the kitchen drawn by the alluring scent of coffee and bacon. He’d barely got a hand on the cupboard door to grab his mug when a piece of paper was slapped down on the counter in front of him.

“Look, Dean! The district is holding a Halloween Decorations competition.”

Dean blinked, trying to get his eyes to open.

“Uh-huh,” he grunted, not seeing what there was to get excited about.

“We should decorate our place. I’m sure we could win if we set our minds to it.”

Cas sounded so excited that Dean couldn’t bring himself to disappoint him. Well, not until he’d drunk at least two cups of coffee and eaten some bacon drenched in maple syrup. So, he nodded his assent and went back to get that all essential first cup.

“Sam says that there will be ‘pop-up’ stores with decorations, and that…err…what’s that hardware store?”

“Home Depot,” Dean replied on autopilot around a mouthful of pancake. Pancake that suddenly tasted like ash in his mouth.

“Yes, that’s it and the craft store. They’ll all have plenty of decorations for us to choose from.”

Dean threw his fork down and pushed his plate away from him. “Sam said? You’ve already spoken with Sam about this?”

Cas worried at the corner of his lip with his teeth. He shrugged. “I may have called Sam.”

No may have about it. But what was done was done. All that was left was for Dean to do damage control and curb Cas’s enthusiasm for Halloween.

“So, what else did Sam tell you?”

Cas pulled out a chair and sat down, picking at Dean’s leftover breakfast. Funny how food tasting like molecules didn't stop Cas from eating things Dean liked.

Normally stealing food from Dean’s plate would be a massive red flag. This morning, Cas could have at it.

“He offered to come over and help me research Halloween so that we get the place done up right.”

“Research? Halloween research? Newsflash, Cas, the monsters are real. You know that. You’ve hunted some of them with us.”

Cas huffed. “But that is not what Halloween is really all about, is it? It is about the souls of the dead, the…veil being between this world and the other being thinnest. Did I get that correct?”

Cas cocked his head to one side, with faux wide-eyed innocence.

That shit was as lethal as Sam’s puppy eyes, goddammit!

“If Sam says so, it must be true,” Dean muttered leaning back in his chair. “So, what exactly is it we win for the best-dressed house?” Maybe there’d be an epic prize that would make pretending that he didn’t know the truth worth it. Doubtful, but a guy could dream of getting free food and booze, couldn’t he?

“A gift card for the supermarket chain of our choice.”

How could Cas make getting a Hy-Vee gift card sound so exciting? The adorable, dorky angel.

“For how much? ‘Cause we could spend way more than whatever they’re offering buying shit we don’t need and will NEVER use again.”

Cas pouted at Dean as he shoved his chair back and walked over to the counter to grab the flyer.

“Why would we never use it again, Dean? I don’t understand. Halloween takes place every year on 31st October, does it not? Surely, we would use them again next year, and maybe the year after that?”

Dean rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand, sighing. He was going to kill Sam when they got back to the bunker. Sam knew how he felt about Halloween, Samhain, All Hallows’ Eve —whatever the hell you wanted to call it. Celebrating ghosts, ghouls, zombies, vampires, werewolves etcetera was plain wrong. No-one should be allowed to do it and free will be damned! For Dean, the commercialization of Halloween had only one plus point. All you can eat candy without any of the guilt. Now, if he could convince Cas of that, then Bobby’s old house could remain decoration-free.

“For the love of…because, we aren’t staying here in Sioux Falls. What part of we’re here until Sam has sorted things out back at the bunker, then you and I are going back to Kansas don’t you understand.”

Dean didn’t think there was anything worse that Cas could do to manipulate him than the stupid head tilt move. Apparently, he was wrong. Cas’s bottom lip was genuinely trembling. Think, Winchester! Think! There had to be a way of appeasing Cas without maxing out one of their fake credit cards. Yeah, it was official, when it came to a certain fallen angel with permanent bedhead and insanely deep sky at night blue eyes Dean was a complete goner.

“But we could always take what we bought back to Kansas with us. We could even do it in several trips. I mean,” Cas batted his eyelashes at Dean, “it is not like we will not have to make trips back here every now and then, even if it’s to see Jody rather than come to Bobby’s.”

Sneaky angel. He had a point; they could drop in on Jody once in a while and swinging past Bobby’s wouldn’t be a hardship. Hell, it was Jody who was helping them, and a few other trusted hunters, keep Bobby’s place habitable.

“Sonovabitch! Fine, you win. We’ll decorate the old place…” Dean stopped as an insane idea began to form in his mind. What if…no…that would be like painting a neon sign over their heads…but then again…was it too early for a little hunter’s helper? It wasn’t even 10 o’clock, and Dean was done with the day.

“Great. You finished with that?” Cas pointed to the half-eaten pancakes and bacon.

“Yeah. Strangest thing happened right after we started this conversation. I lost my appetite.”

Cas’s brow furrowed for a second before he snatched the plate off the table, scraped the contents into the trash can and dumped the plate in the sink. He looked at his watch, a cheap drug store one he’d taken to wearing because people who wore suits, also wore watches.

The things that the angel focused on so he could blend in with humans more continued to fascinate Dean. It would be the odd mannerisms and the lack of understanding of human idioms of speech or pop culture references that marked Cas out as ‘different’ not whether he was wearing a watch. In all honesty, Dean thought that if Cas was about to suggest they went shopping for Halloween decorations with Cas dressed in his suit and trench-coat on a Saturday morning, nothing would stop Cas from looking out of place.

“By my estimation, you have precisely 10 minutes and twenty-five seconds in which to shower and change. It will take us another half hour to drive to the store. We can be there when it opens at 10.30.”

“Alright, alright! I’m going,” Dean conceded.

He placed a swift kiss to Cas’s cheek on his way to the bathroom. Dean had 40 minutes to figure out how to get away with buying the minimal possible that would please Cas without breaking the metaphorical bank. Fake credit cards did not grow in trees, nor did the money that they gave the Winchesters access to.

*******************

Because any opportunity to get under Cas’s skin about Dean never being punctual was an opportunity not to be missed, Dean unlocked Baby twelve minutes after he had gone to take his shower.

As expected, Cas was standing forlornly by Baby’s passenger door waiting for him. “You’re late. That means we won’t be there when the store opens, Dean. I wanted to be there then, so we don’t miss anything. I want to win this competition.”

“I can make up the time. Don’t you worry about that,” Dean reassured Cas as Baby roared into life.

A speed trap and slow weekend drivers made Dean’s promise impossible. They arrived outside the shop at 10.32. Cas was twitching in beside him, irritated at not achieving his goal to be outside before the store opened. So, Dean pushed him out of Baby in front of the shop’s entrance telling Cas that he’d go find a safe place to park the Impala. With Baby safely parked up in an empty part of the lot, it was time to see if the fount of all nerdy knowledge could come up with any reason why his brilliant idea wouldn’t work.

“Hey, Sammy. Hear you been telling Cas tales again, bitch!”

“What of it, jerk?”

Dean, being the mature older brother that he was, stuck his tongue out at his phone. “Dude, he’s dragging me around a Spirit store looking for the appropriate decorations to celebrate the thinning of the veil.”

“I can hear the air quotes, you know,” Sam chuckled. “You’ve been around that angel of yours too long. What d’you want? ‘Cause I’m certain it wasn’t solely to bitch at me and I got work to do.”

Dean drew in a deep breath. The things he did to keep Cas happy would worry him if he wasn’t so damn happy about them finally being ‘together’ together.

“Hypothetically speaking, what would happen if you had a mix of sigils on a place some of which were drawn correctly and others that were slightly botched so only someone with the knowledge of them would recognise that they’re wrong?”

The silence on the other end of the phone wasn’t encouraging.

“Dean? Come on! There are so many different themes we could use. I need you to help me choose which one, or ones, will be the most pertinent to an authentic human Halloween experience.” Cas tugged at Dean’s jacket sleeve. “Hello, Sam. Say hi to my brother from me.”

Dean shot Cas a quizzical look and mouthed, “Gabriel?”

Cas nodded, yanking Dean through the shop door.

Dean lurched slightly before gaining his balance and yelling down the phone at Sam, “You let Gabriel into the Bunker? Really, Sam”

“Could be worse, it could have been Lucifer, or I suppose Sam could…”

Dean held up a finger to silence Cas before he uttered another name.

“You got your angel boyfriend, and I have my angel bestie. Give us a few minutes to check the lore and see what damage you could do…um, hold on a sec…why? Why do you need to know this hypothetical question?”

Dean darted behind a display of scythes and broomsticks. He wasn’t out of angelic hearing range, but it was better than nothing. “I was hoping I could chalk some on the front windows, door and the signs on the gate along with some bio-hazard tape or something?”

“Hmmm, doesn’t sound all that Halloweenish to me. Ah, yes I forgot you’re the Halloween Grinch.”

Dean clutched his hand to his chest, mouth hanging open, and eyes bulging. If only Sam could see how he’d wounded his brother! Dean quickly recovered his composure and peeked out to see where Cas had wandered off to. “Am not! Besides, there’s no such thing.”

“Whatever the most anti-Halloween character is — you are it, Dean. I’ll get you your answer, but Cas’s way sounds way better. Go help him choose some FUN stuff.”

Cas was standing by an animatronic Beetlejuice display with trademark angel confusion.

“Nope. No. Never. We don’t need that kind of shit. Let’s…uh…oh…hey what about these?”

Dean pointed to the display of polystyrene tombstones and gargoyles.

“I suppose,” Cas said quietly and so obviously not agreeing with Dean. “While I can see the logic in them, given the nature of your, er, job…wouldn’t having them be somewhat of a…what is the phrase…aha…’bus man’s holiday’?” Cas had to do the air quotes. Luckily no-one was looking.

“Like I said earlier, the whole thing is a bit too close to reality for me. Buying so much candy that there’re buckets of it left over after the trick or treaters have finished? That, I can get behind. So, don’t forget the stop at Hy-Vee for candy in the planning, alright?”

“You’d prefer candy to pie?”

Dean shook his head. “I want both candy and pie if we’re decorating Bobby’s place like a goddamn haunted house sideshow.”

That was when Dean spotted it, the two things that if coupled with some fake tombstones and his incorrect sigils idea would make decorating bearable. It probably wouldn’t win Cas the prize, but it could create an awesome atmosphere for any kids brave enough to swing by the salvage yard. If no-one came, he’d still have fun. What wasn’t there to like about smoke machines and piles of skulls with glowing red eyes that could be attached to the smoke machine? If Dean had read the box correctly, the pile of skulls could also be hooked up to music. He could see it now, some Sabbath, some Blue Oyster Cult, some ACDC, maybe even some of that Misfits punk rubbish blaring out through the smoke. All he had to do now was convince Cas that the fake smoke-filled graveyard and musical skull piles were the answer.

Surprisingly enough, it didn’t take all that much convincing. Cas did make him promise to play some spooky music in honor of the holiday, which Dean readily agreed to. He had a playlist of all of his favorite scary movie songs, he would throw in a few rock songs here and there and everything would be perfect.

With their purchases safely tucked into the trunk of the Impala, they climbed into the car. The stop to get candy didn’t take very long, so Castiel suggested they stop at the nearby autumn festival to see what was there. The parking lot is crowded, and the festival looks like the kind of place they normally avoided because they’d on their way to a hunt.

“It’s a seasonal tradition, Dean,” he insisted with a pleading look, one that nearly rivaled Sam’s puppy-dog eyes. Dean couldn’t help but cave, especially given the fluttering in his chest. With their relationship being so new, he was so glad that he got to have moments like this that he didn’t hesitate to pull into the designated parking lot.

The festival was in full swing. It was chilly out for October, though not so much that they were cold in their jackets. Well, Dean wasn’t cold in his jacket, at least. The cold winds do nothing to Castiel but tussle his already messy hair.

“So, where do you want to start?” Dean asked, hands bunched up in his pockets to keep them from getting cold.

“You’ve been to these before, haven’t you? Where would you recommend starting? What’s most essential to the enjoyment of this particular festival?”

Dean frowned. “I’ve never done stuff like this. Didn’t have time, at least not as a kid. We could start with apple cider I guess?” He led Castiel to a tent with a space heater inside. There was a charming old woman behind the table with a smile and several cups of hot apple cider in front of her.

“Afternoon, boys. Here for a cup of cider? It’s all made from local apples,” she said with a conspiratorial wink, pushing two cups toward them. Castiel hesitated, so Dean grabbed the cups and passed one to Cas, shooting the woman a smile.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

They step back outside, and Cas takes a cautious sip, nose wrinkling as he does so. Dean chuckles quietly to himself, heart clenching at the allure of the angel before him.

“So? What’s the verdict, Cas? Still taste like molecules?”

Castiel hummed appreciatively, smiling gently at Dean. “Yes. But those molecules were pleasing, at least. Like whiskey.”

They explored the rest of the festival, though there isn’t a lot to see. Sioux Falls is a small town, the autumn festival was likely something they put on to promote local businesses. There were a few carnival games that the kids of the town crowded around, along with picnic tables where the adults gathered eating what smells like barbecue. Castiel insisted on looking at the stall of a local beekeeper and the thought alone gives Dean chest pains. The last time Castiel had been obsessed with bees hadn’t exactly been the best time of their lives, though Castiel assured him that he only wanted some fresh honey for the tea he’d taken to drinking at night. They did end up leaving with a warm, homemade apple pie, though, so Dean counted the excursion as a win.

They took the rest of the afternoon to set up the decorations around the property. Castiel was tasked with painting the sigils around the windows of the house and even on the old stacks of cars. He was always better at that anyway, and Dean tended to have more patience with technology than Castiel. The last thing they needed was Castiel getting annoyed with the decorations and smiting them. Castiel didn’t laugh when Dean said as much, but Dean still grinned at him anyway.

It was dusk by the time they’d finished — perfect timing if Dean did say so himself. The judges should have been starting their tour. He can see a few of the nearby houses letting their kids out for trick-or-treating. Dean shot Cas a mischievous smile and flicked off all the lights save for the one on the front fence to let trick-or-treaters know they were home. Now all they had to do was wait.

The waiting was the worst part, it turned out. Dean was crouched behind a pile of metal with his phone in hand, ready to blast music the second they heard kids or the judges coming up. Castiel was hidden somewhere in the stacks of cars, though Dean couldn’t for the life of him figure out why.

The telltale sound of tires on the road nearby gave away the arrival of someone, most likely the competition judges. Dean waited with bated breath for the crunch of gravel underneath shoes before he pressed play on his playlist. The soft sounds of the Halloween theme song creeped out through the junkyard and, combined with the ominous red eyes glowing in the distance and the thick layer of smoke near the entrance they’d managed to build up, it created a thoroughly creepy atmosphere.

It wasn’t until the very last second that he spotted Castiel across the way, decked out in a Jason Vorhees costume, complete with a huge, bright red fire ax effortlessly held aloft. The sight made Dean simultaneously terrified for the poor judges' hearts and giddy to see Cas scare the living daylights out of them.

Just as the judges rounded the corner, Castiel popped out from his hiding place. Dean fixed his eyes on the judges for their reaction. One, an older woman, looked positively scandalized, her hand fixed over her heart and a stern glare fixed directly on Castiel. The other judge, a college-age frat boy type, screamed so loud and high-pitched that it made Dean wince, before collapsing back onto the ground with a hand out to seemingly protect himself from the ax. Dean can’t help but cackle from his hiding spot, though it’s hidden by the music for the most part.

Castiel pulled the mask off and apologized profusely, helping the kid to his feet. The kid waved him off with a nervous chuckle, shuffling closer to the other judge.

“Well, it’s definitely the scariest house we’ve seen all night, so good job on that,” the kid said breathlessly, nodding toward the woman. “What do you think? They for sure went all-out, they even dressed up.”

The woman huffed. “I suppose they did, though the theme is a little… crude. I mean, what are these paint swirls even supposed to be? And why the Halloween theme when you’re dressed as Jason Vorhees?”

Dean could barely make out Castiel’s face falling as the woman continued her tirade, pointing out all the different aspects she doesn’t agree with. The kid looked embarrassed, trying to quiet her to no avail.

“We’ll just have to see if the kids enjoy it, then. The whole point of Halloween is scares and chocolate, after all,” Dean said as he steps out from behind his perch, shooting Castiel a reassuring smile. “Besides, we thought the competition would be fun, but we decorated for the kids.”

The woman turned her nose up at them, but the kid smiled softly and waved as he followed her to the car. Dean sighed and crossed the few feet to Castiel, wrapping an arm around his waist.

“Hey, don’t listen to her. She’s probably only doing this because someone asked her, and she couldn’t say no. She probably hates Halloween. Alright? We did a good job, and the kids are gonna love it.” Dean smiled, squeezing Cas’s waist lightly. “Maybe lose the ax though, hm? It may be a bit overboard. I’ll get you a metal pipe or something.”

Castiel handed over the ax, a mischievous expression lighting up his face. “Deal. We should get everything ready; I can hear some kids heading this way.”

Dean grinned before pressing a kiss to Castiel’s forehead. He dropped the ax off in the shadows of his hiding spot, passing Castiel an old, rusted metal pipe that fitted the aesthetic they were going for. He ducked back into his hiding spot while Castiel carefully melted back into the shadows, shooting Dean a ridiculous wink as he slid the Jason mask back over his face. Dean fiddled with the smoke machine for a moment, getting a thin layer of smoke rolling out over the entrance to the yard, and sat back to wait.

They spent the majority of the night scaring the crap out of the neighborhood kids, but most of them left with smiles on their faces and handfuls of candy that Castiel gave them as an apology. Dean had hidden a couple of bags earlier in the night, so they’d have plenty for the two of them once all the trick-or-treaters had gone. Not that Castiel would eat much, but Dean had a night of scary movies and cuddling on the couch planned, whether Castiel decided to eat candy or not.

The last group of kids left around eleven that night. Castiel’s superhuman hearing couldn’t make out anyone else approaching the house, so they turned off the lights, unplugged the pile of skulls and the smoke machine, then lugged both into the house before locking themselves in for the night. Castiel agreed to a movie night, so Dean picked out his favorite scary movie and threw a bag of popcorn into the microwave. Castiel grabbed the beers while Dean dumped the freshly popped corn into a bowl, and then they both settle into the couch, pressed close from shoulder to thigh.

It was the most comfortable Dean had been in a damn long time. Castiel was in a great mood after spending the night learning Halloween traditions and passing out candy. They rarely got to do anything fun like this. Sure, they had movie nights at the Bunker, but they were alone here. Dean was tentatively hopeful there would be some making out, and maybe even a little bit more, as the movie played forgotten in the background. For now, though, he was content to wrap an arm around Cas’s shoulders and press a kiss to his temple, a heavy, happy sigh escaping his lips.

Maybe this Halloween thing wasn’t so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that's it our fluffy, cute fic with a side of Halloween. I hope you liked it! If you did, please hit the kudos button and leave a comment. I love to hear what you think and I always (eventually) respond to comments.


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